Insects, 



6283 



the insect may be seen, presenting a complete honeycomb. What moth does it result 

 in? — Edivard Hearle Rodd ; Penzance,^ August 26, 1858. 

 [Cossus ligniperda. — E. Newman.'] 



Zeuzera sculi feedi7ig on Ash, — On the 23rd of June last Mr. Schofield and I ob- 

 tained eighteen specimens of this insect from an ash tree, of which number six were 

 males; we also saw the pupa-cases of about fifty others protruding from the bark of 

 the same tree. — W. Groves; 12, Morden Place, Lewisham Road. 



Douhle-hroodedness of the Notodontidce, — The paper on the double-broodedness of 

 the Notodontidae (Zool. 6248) brings to my mind some notes, which I thought of 

 sending you when the subject was discussed before ; and as there is probably at the 

 present time the same indistinct perception of what is included in the phrase " double- 

 brooded" as was so evident then, they may still be of use. A moth spends a portion 

 of its life in four different stages, viz. egg, larva, pupa and imago ; and when an insect 

 is said to be " double-brooded " we understand that it passes through the whole of 

 these four stages twice in the course of twelve months ; and as some spend a long 

 time in one of these stages and some in another, it is clear that evidence extending 

 over only a few months can never prove this fact. For instance, to take the evidence 

 brought forward by Mr. Gascoyne, which is almost as satisfactory as a single experi- 

 ment on such a subject can be, that portion of the evidence which goes far to render 

 it conclusive, I mean the hatching of the second brood of larvae, is introduced almost 

 parenthetically at the end of the paper, and the writer seems to have been hardly 

 aware of its value: the evidence adduced in the body of the paper is that perfect 

 insects which emerged about the end of May produced larvae which fed up in July, 

 and changed to perfect insects early in August: now these insects might have hyber- 

 nated, or they might have laid eggs which would not hatch till the same time as those 

 laid in May, or these eggs mfght produce larvae which would remain half-fed through 

 the winter and feed up with the spring larvae ; in either case, the double-broodedness 

 is " not proven." To the last of these alternatives the evidence adduced is still open, 

 and I hope Mr. Gascoyne will publish the results of his experiments when the cycle is 

 complete, as he may feel assured that many who have taken no part in the con- 

 troversy are watching it with interest. — Thomas Boyd ; 17, Clapton Square, N.E,^ 

 October 9, 1858. 



Habits of Nndaria Senex. — I was not acquainted with the habits of this little insect 

 till the other day. Happening to go down one evening (July 14 ih) to a marsh near 

 here, I noticed a small pale moth, which I took to be a Crambus, flying over the tops 

 of the rushes at twilight. T at once caught it, and found it to be N. Senex. On that 

 and two or three other evenings, I took twenty or thirty. The female seems to be 

 sluggish, for I only took two. — H, Harpur Creive ; Stoivmarket, August 9,1858. — 

 From * The Naturalist.^ 



Capture of Leucania vitellina at Brighton. — I send for your inspection what I 

 believe to be a specimen of Leucania vitellina, which I took with my own hands at 

 Brighton in September ; two friends who were with me at the time saw it alive in ray 

 net. I have not compared it with Mr. Cooke's specimen, but think I am right in the 

 name. — T. Thorncroft ; 87, North Lane^ Brighton, October 18, 1858. 



£The insect is unquestionably Leucania vitellina. — E. Newman.'] 



Note on Nonagria Typhce. — I met with seven or eight pupae, and two or thi-ee full- 

 fed larvae last week, (July 20ih), at Stowmarket, in the stem of Typha latifolia. It is 

 not however common in this neighbourhood. I have noticed that though the huva 



